Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared that every drop of Pakistan’s water is a “red line”, warning that India would face a direct response if it did not return to what he called the right path (Geo News).
“India must come to the right path, otherwise it will be given a direct response,” he said, adding that Pakistan wanted peace and stability in the region but that its desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Yadgar-e-Fatah, or Victory Monument, in Islamabad on the eve of Independence Day. President Asif Ali Zardari, Shehbaz and Field Marshal Asim Munir jointly inaugurated it. The ceremony was attended by the service chiefs, federal ministers, foreign diplomats, the Senate chairman, the National Assembly speaker, the governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Punjab chief minister, with contingents of the armed forces, civil armed forces and police from all four provinces as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan taking part.
The water remark is the substantive one, and it refers to a dispute that has not moved for more than a year. India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack and has kept it there, saying the suspension continues until Pakistan meets conditions India sets. In May the Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in Pakistan’s favour on how much water India may hold back in reservoirs on the western rivers; India rejected the ruling. About 80 per cent of Pakistan’s farmland depends on the Indus system.
The monument marks what the government calls Marka-e-Haq, the conflict of May 2025. Shehbaz said its design had been completed in eight months, praised Munir and the armed forces, and said the nation’s head was held high while the enemy had suffered a “humiliating defeat”. By Pakistan’s account the more-than-80-hour exchange, which began on May 6-7 and ended on May 10 after US intervention, saw eight Indian fighter jets including Rafales and dozens of drones downed. India has disputed Pakistani claims about the engagement, and independent verification of the totals remains limited.
Shehbaz said US President Donald Trump had brokered a timely ceasefire between Pakistan and India and expressed hope that relations with Washington would strengthen further — a notably warm reference to the same administration whose war with Iran Pakistan is currently mediating.
On the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement he said Turkiye had become part of the accord and described it as a symbol of peace in the Middle East. He said Pakistan would continue to support Palestinian rights, that its position on Kashmir was unequivocal, and advised the Afghan government to prevent its territory being used for terrorism.
“No power could defeat a united nation,” he said. “We are all heirs to Pakistan, and our differences should not turn into enmity.”
